Needs Improvement: Congress Takes up Foster Care Student Report Cards
(Posted October 18, 2011 08:15 am)
By Les Coleman
TALLAHASSEE, FL - School report cards for children in foster care usually show they are behind their peers in almost every academic measure. A U.S. Senate committee takes a closer look at the problem today, and a national town hall is set for Wednesday, featuring George Sheldon, who used to head the Florida Department of Children and Families and is now an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Daniel Heimple, project director at Fostering Media Connections, provides background on why foster children struggle in school.
The town hall is at 3 pm, Wed, Oct 19 and can be found here.
"There's the trauma they may have endured, as well as
move from home to home and bounce from school district
to school district and can't form a stable school
environment. That hurts their education."
Heimple's organization and the Congressional Coalition
on Adoption Institute are hosting the national town hall
online. Teachers and students will also share ideas
about how to inspire nationwide change.
Heimple says ideally, pupils in foster care should stay
in the same school and, when that's not possible,
national guidelines could help make transitions run more
smoothly.
"At least have their records transferred rapidly, as
well as be re-enrolled quickly, because a problem you
have happening is big gaps in enrollment, and then these
kids, unfortunately, fall behind."
He says this takes close collaboration between
child-welfare and education departments, and is being
done in some areas of the country.
In Baltimore, social workers have access to school
emergency contact cards to help place children with
nearby friends and relatives. The program also alerts
school officials to meet with affected pupils right away
to identify problems that could impair academic
achievement.
The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee takes up the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act today; it includes an amendment focused on
improving educational outcomes for students in foster
care.